Silver Wolves

“In the mid-1950s, 15-year-old Jonah Salt’s life is centered around his older brother Michael’s gang, the Silver Wolves.
“But Michael is in prison on Governors Island, their father is institutionalized at a psychiatric center, and Jonah has just been released from juvenile detention. His drawing skills earn him a spot at Harlem Heights’ High School of Music and Art, the chance of a lifetime for a boy from the South Bronx. At M & A, Jonah, who’s Jewish, is surrounded by the Ivy League–bound elite. The charismatic chair of the English department becomes his ally, and he starts dating Merle Messenger, a bold, academically gifted polio survivor whose disability is handled with care as simply one aspect of her life. Invited into Merle’s world of wealth and culture, Jonah must balance new opportunities with what he owes the gang and community. The book paints a meticulous, detailed historical portrait of New York City. Jonah is an observant and principled first-person narrator, but the real stars are the supporting cast members. This young adult debut by acclaimed writer Charyn is populated by lovable, complicated, wholly realized people who inhabit a world that feels full and bustling. The author portrays the complexities of Jonah’s life—carceral systems fail him and the people he cares about—but he avoids didacticism, instead offering an almost dreamlike trip that unfolds at a measured pace through the events that shape Jonah into the young man he’ll become.
“An immersive and fully realized coming-of-age story.”
–Kirkus Revviews (Historical fiction. 14-18)

“A coming-of-age story, set in 1952 New York City, that emphasizes family, high school romances, power and loss, mental illness, gang violence, and literacy. Troubled artist Jonah Salt enters the High School of Music and Art (M&A), where he experiences an almost spiritual transformation. He meets polio survivor Merle, a brilliant mind and strong-willed. She lives a rich life and exposes Jonah to dreams he would have never thought possible. Jonah goes back and forth between his life at M&A and working to help his mother make ends meet while his pop experiences mental illness and his brother, Michael, is in a military prison. Jonah finds his identity in his art and poetic words with the help of his teacher Mr. Merriman and Merle, but he is unsure of his street identity and his role at home. Readers will find Jonah’s journey to understand himself and those around him to be realistic and full of interesting perspectives and emotions. He is caught between the Silver Wolves, a gang in the lower Bronx, and wanting to live the life his mother and brother never could, creating a conflict that might never be resolved. This powerful novel analyzes the complex identity development and growth of an adolescent who lives between two worlds—a world of gang violence and poverty, and a world where literacy can help him transcend his oppression. Race of the characters is not mentioned.”
“VERDICT Highly recommended; young readers will reflect on the various hardships introduced, and, hopefully, learn to practice empathy.”
–School Library Journal